Dragon Ruler
"Dragon Ruler" (Japanese:
The series is infamous for its historically high power level in the OCG and TCG, with all of its members having been added to the Forbidden Lists of both OCG and TCG from 2013-2015, and not being removed from the list until years later.
Lore
Members
Attribute | Dragon Ruler | Lower-level counterpart |
---|---|---|
FIRE | Blaster | Burner |
EARTH | Redox | Reactan |
WIND | Tempest | Lightning |
WATER | Tidal | Stream |
Playing style
The Level 7 Dragon Rulers each have four effects, with an only 1 effect once per turn condition.
- "You can discard this card and 1 [Attribute] monster to the GY; [discard effect]."
- "You can banish a total of 2 [Attribute] and/or Dragon monsters from your hand and/or GY; Special Summon this card from your hand or GY."
- "During your opponent's End Phase, if you control this Special Summoned card: Return it to the hand."
- "If this card is banished: You can add 1 [Attribute] Dragon monster from your Deck to your hand."
Dragon Ruler | Attribute | Discard effect |
---|---|---|
Blaster | FIRE | Target 1 card on the field; destroy it. |
Redox | EARTH | Target 1 monster in your GY; Special Summon it. |
Tempest | WIND | Add 1 Dragon monster from your Deck to your hand. |
Tidal | WATER | Send 1 monster from your Deck to the GY. |
Each low-Level Dragon Ruler has one only once per turn effect: the player can discard them and 1 Dragon or 1 monster of their Attribute and Special Summon their corresponding high-Level Dragon Ruler with their Attribute from the Deck, but it cannot attack this turn.
By combining the summoning effects of all the Dragon Ruler monsters, and the searching effects of "Tempest" and "Tidal", the series can rapidly swarm the board with Level 7 Dragon Ruler monsters, which can then be used for Level 7 Xyz plays. The ability for Dragon Ruler monsters to Special Summon themselves from the GY also grants the Deck excellent recovery over multiple turns.
Externally, a Dragon Ruler focused Deck can be supplemented with other Level 7 swarming engines, in particular the high-power "Kashtira" monsters. They can also work well with "Armed Dragon" monsters, who can replenish advantage when discarded by the low-Level Dragon Rulers or "Tempest", and can also swarm with Level 7 monsters. The Deck also synergizes with Level 3 Tuners (e.g. "Rose Dragon" monsters, or "Dragunity Guisarme" for its ability to revive "Lightning"), as they grant access to the powerful Level 10 Synchro Monster pool. In particular, "Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying" can activate its effect when a Dragon Ruler banishes monsters for its effect. Individual Dragon Ruler monsters can also be played as utility tools in Attribute or Dragon-focused Decks.
Recommended cards
Recommended cards
| ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
Weaknesses
- The Deck's playstyle is directly countered by:
- Anti-banish floodgates (e.g. "Imperial Iron Wall")
- Anti-Special Summon floodgates (e.g. "Archlord Kristya", "Evilswarm Ophion", "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo", "Crimson Blader", "Summon Limit")
- The Deck is heavily disrupted by anti-Graveyard floodgates (e.g. "Macro Cosmos"), as it cuts off the Deck's Graveyard recursion.